I was curious how much electricity I'd used since I got my first electric bill (for just 9 days) so I just checked the meter. I've used 562 kwh since that first bill.
My average daily usage on my last statement is 17 kwh. With today's reading and the number of days since the last reading, I can guesstimate that my average daily usage now is almost 22 kwh. Not as good as 17 kwh but it's been really hot and though I've kept AC use down, I have used it here and there. I'm also cooking more than I was the first 9 days I was here. So I can see the increase being reasonable. But I'm using the AC less than I was so I figured it would stay the same or be slightly less. Things that make you go hmmm....
On a website about green technology and tips to reducing electric consumption I found this:
"Monitor your electric usage daily. Chart it, if it helps. Keep a daily eye on it; like one would you were living off-grid. This will keep your focus on conservation. Set a goal for daily kWh usage, achieve it, and then try to go lower. An average American home uses 40 kWh per day. Efficient homes use as little as 14 kWh a day, which includes winter heating (electric heat pump). Some off grid homes as little as 1 kWh a day!"
So, my consumption is right at slightly less than half the average American's and that seems about right considering there's just one person in the household.
Since I want to reduce my electric bill, I'm setting an average daily use goal of 20 kwh or below, starting right now. I don't know if I can do it but hey, it can't hurt to try! If I can get it down to 20, I'm going to try for 18 and see what happens.
Here are a few good links about energy to check:
Find out how much energy is used by common household appliances:
http://www.city.ames.ia.us/ElectricWeb/energyguy/appliances.htm
And here's how to do a home energy audit on your own home:
http://www.city.ames.ia.us/ElectricWeb/selfaudit.htm
And here's a nice heat loss quiz:
http://www.city.ames.ia.us/ElectricWeb/Heat%20Loss%20Quiz.htm
I imagine most of you know about the Energy Guy and others like him but it's still interesting information!
Out of curiosity, what is your household's average daily kwh usage and how many people are in your home?
Average daily electricity usage
October 2nd, 2007 at 10:27 pm
October 2nd, 2007 at 11:18 pm 1191363494
February 14th, 2008 at 10:17 pm 1203027477
May 17th, 2008 at 05:48 pm 1211042890
June 26th, 2008 at 10:19 pm 1214515194
August 12th, 2008 at 06:29 pm 1218562156
October 9th, 2008 at 12:59 pm 1223553575
October 16th, 2008 at 05:24 pm 1224174281
January 18th, 2009 at 10:26 am 1232274382
Locate your power meter and your circuit breaker. Find a time when you can safely shut down all your power and go through the breaker box one leg at a time until your meter stops spinning. Then throw one breaker at a time. Find all the appliances/lights/electronics on each breaker leg. Chart them in an Excel doc by name, location and breaker number. You can unplug them one by one until the meter stops spinning. Once you have all the energy using items in your home identified, you can use a "killawatt" meter or similar device to find out how much power each item uses. Chart the power usage next to each item in the Excel doc. Your culprits should jump out at you. I'd be willing to bet it is your hot water heater - that should be on a dedicated breaker.
I did this in an office I was renting. I found out that the landlord had wired the hot water heater for the public bathroom to my meter and had bypassed my circuit breaker and I was unwittingly paying for the building's hot water supply.
December 3rd, 2011 at 06:49 am 1322894973
December 10th, 2011 at 12:11 pm 1323519071
All cfl lighting, upgraded to a 95% efficient furnace and a 13seer A/C. We got rid of our 20 yr old freezer and a mini fridge of about the same age. Most laundy is air dried as running the dryer 3x on laundry day added at least 6kwh per day. I have resealed all windows and doors and insulated the attic access door and the louvers on the whole house fan. TV and computers are on power strips which are switched off and we make sure to unplug wall-warts(charger/adapters) when not in use.
April 23rd, 2012 at 08:19 pm 1335208793
February 17th, 2013 at 03:11 am 1361070665
March 25th, 2013 at 01:28 am 1364174899
I live in WV I have a 1,008 SQ foot trailer. Everything is ran by electric. Also everything is brand new, hot water, furnace. everything. My bill is crazy. It says I'm using 5,793KWH in 30 days. That is 193.1 KWH a day. I'm a two person adult household. Im in school and he works full time. So we are home around 12-15 hours a day. My heater is set to 65. I don't know what to do.
April 9th, 2013 at 08:48 am 1365493684
Gibs
August 23rd, 2013 at 07:36 am 1377239780
August 25th, 2013 at 10:02 pm 1377464558
Here's something else you guys havent concidered, someone is plugged into your meter and is getting FREE electric.
This happens mostly in complexes and townhomes where something is misswired or purposefully rewired. However it can happen in rural areas where someone just runs an extention cord while youre gone ...
You should be able to tell the electric company to just switch out the meter, if they dont call your city administrator and see if they can help or your states board of energy.
Also, for those of need of assistance you can call your city admin and ask for assistance, you can even call the local union for electrical workers, they just might be tickeled pink to help out, unions are ALWAYS looking for a way to look good ...
Now if the problem is a bad meter after all, then the electric company owes someone a lot of money in over paid bills ... might even be a class action law suit in that one
I sure hope this helps someone, I hate being poor, but being rich has its disadvantages as well ... like which car do I take to the Hollywood ball, the benz, the rolls or the caddy ...
Enjoy your day everyone